The 130-pound Dakota senior grappler was in a bind in the closing minute of his wrestleback matchup at the IKWF state wrestling tournament Friday against Harvey’s Cameron White as the match was tied 4-4.

White got the upperhand and actually led 7-4, but Slayton managed to turn him around on the mat and get an exciting pin just before time expired.

“He chose neutral on me and knew he was going to try to shoot or do another duck under me,” Slayton said. “So I just grabbed his arm and stalled for a second.

“He tried to circle around me and I just flipped him on his back and got the pin.”

Slayton won his first match, but lost his second to drop down to the consolation bracket where he received a bye before getting another win against White.

“It feels really good to get a chance to medal here because I didn’t want to go home losing,” Slayton said. “This is my last IKWF tournament before I gotta go to high school, so this feels really good.”

Hononegah’s wrestlers Kyler Luepke (122 pounds, senior) and Anthony Cassioppi (177, senior) probably feel pretty good about their matches. Both grapplers advanced to the semifinals in their respective weight classes. Novice Benjamin Zalapi is also in the semifinals for Hononegah.

Dakota coach Doug Heilemeier was proud of Slayton’s effort as well as Maverick McPeek’s, who advanced to the championship bracket semifinals at 189 pounds.

“I’ve been doing this tournament for something like 20-some seasons,” Heilemeier said. “This tournament has gotten so tough.

“There were state championship bouts that were wrestling in the second round today, just because there’s so many good kids out here.”